Central Asia

#16 - 26.06.2009, Kashgar, China:

It turned out tougher than we had expected: the Pamirs not only offer us high passes, icy peaks, fantastic landscapes and marvellous cycling, but also daily snow- or hailstorms, bad roads and above all the unexpected visit to Murghab’s hospital because of sudden unusually strong pains Kathi is experiencing. This leads to an unplanned trip back to Khorog by car and a couple of days of rest in Murghab before we tackle the 4.655m high Ak Baital Pass. Leaving Tajikistan means entering the colourful picture-book like landscape of Kyrgyzstan for just two days before a descent through a fantastically red, orange and yellow canyon brings us to the edge of the Taklamakan Desert, to the oasis of Kashgar.
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#15 - 11.06.2009, Khorog, Tajikistan:

Our adventures on the 630km from Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe to the mountain “city” of Khorog, from where we will venture into the heart of the Pamir, are of the kind that parents like to hear about only after they have happened: while we see some of the most fantastic mountain scenery ever while cycling along the Tajik-Afghan border, we are confronted with everything from catastrophically bad roads, landslides, countless minor and one major river crossing where bridges have been washed away, cycling through a waterfall, landmines, road blocks due to dynamite blasting, umpteen fastidious registration procedures with bored policemen or unfriendly military personnel demanding bribes and above all being “checked” by nighttime Tajik military patrols with loaded machine-guns pointed at us twice while camping.
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#14 - 02.06.2009, Dushanbe, Tajikistan:

After a week of running and sitting around in Tashkent waiting for our Chinese visa we are happy to sit on our bikes again, this time headed for the Tajik mountains. Immediately after crossing the border we notice that Tajiks are the most friendly and open of the central Asian people, almost like back in Iran. In order to reach the capital Dushanbe we have to cross two passes, the first is way over 3000m while the crossing of the second is supposedly made easier by a new tunnel, which actually more resembles a ride in Disney World’s space mountain, only a bit wetter. In between we take it really easy and enjoy the serene atmosphere of the idyllic mountain lake Iskander Kul, before dipping into Dushanbe, certainly the most pleasant and relaxed capital city on our trip so far.
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#13 - 23.05.2009, Tashkent, Uzbekistan:

We enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of the ancient Silk Road city Bukhara for a few days, taking in some of the most fascinating sights of Central Asia. Our onward travel takes us through the endless cotton fields of Uzbekistan. Samarqand impresses us with another set of majestic sights from the Timurid period. In a final three days we cycle to the border of the enormous Kazakh steppe, reaching Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent. We don’t have much time to visit the surrealist monstrosities that the countries’ megalomanic president commissioned, as we spend a nerve wrecking five days trying to overcome the combined Uzbek and Chinese bureaucracy to obtain a much sought-after Chinese visa.
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#12 - 09.05.2009, Bukhara, Uzbekistan:

Leaving Mashhad behind us means descending from the Iranian plateau into the lower lying Central Asian desert basin. Spring being the best time to see this landscape we enjoy millions of red poppy flowers dotting the landscape together with other pink and yellow flowers. Once in Turkmenistan initially we are focussed on travelling as fast and as far as possible, having only been granted a 5 day transit visa to cover the 500km through this desert country. For the first time on our trip, in the desert it gets really hot, we fight strong winds from all directions but enjoy the loneliness of this barren landscape. Reaching Uzbekistan on the fifth day means entering the heart of Central Asia and we are welcomed by a colourful mix of locals, particular in the ancient and magnificent Silk Road city of Bukhara.
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